


The X-Kid

by White_Noise



Category: Cable (Comics), Cable and Deadpool, Deadpool (Comics), Deadpool (Movieverse), Deadpool - All Media Types, X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Original Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: All the Summers family drama, Cable and Deadpool : Enema of the State inspired, Cable and Deadpool House of M inspired, F/M, Gen, Inspired by Cable and Deadpool comics, Kid Cable, Post-Deadpool 2 (2018), Post-X-Men: Days of Future Past, Summers family drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-18 14:45:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16120682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/White_Noise/pseuds/White_Noise
Summary: X-Force is finally up and kicking butt like a family should. But what is this? Cable has de-aged to 6 years old? And now the X-Men are getting involved? How the hell is a Time Travelling bad-ass like Cable even connected to the X-Men?The X-Force and the X-Men will need to work together (much to Logan's annoyance) but there is someone else out there with their eyes on a young Cable. Can the teams join forces and protect him from a Sinister presence hunting him or will two families be torn apart.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Where to even begin with this one. The amount of sources I have borrowed for this fic are insane. 
> 
> Firstly, there are the movies, mainly the Original X-Men Movies and DOFP ending (Cos Summers Family Drama is only fun when they are alive) as well as DP2 and this fic is set after all of them.
> 
> The Deaging Plot Line is inspired by Cable and Deadpool: Enema of the State (Awesome plot line of the alternate Cables and totally worth it just for smart ass Kid Cable hanging with adult Wade) but without Cable remembering his history while being a child. Still has full access to his grown up mutations though.
> 
> And a little bit inspired by Cable #159 for the proof of actual Summers Family interaction and Jean and Scott actually caring for their kid. The Redd and Slym thing was actually adorable, how protective they were of Nate.
> 
> I am also throwing in a few ideas from other stories which will progress as I go but these are the main ones so far. All you really need to remember is all X-Men are alive and the team is how it was in X2. DP2 has happened but until this point, Wade and the rest don't know Cables backstory (yet)

It was early morning in Westchester, the early morning sun gently brushing the walls of Xavier’s Academy for Gifted Youngsters. Within the stone confides of the school, dozens of teenage and young adult mutants were slowly waking to begin their day. On the second floor of the building, a man stood. He was a gruff man, seemingly more at home in the wilds then in the majesty of this grand house, hence his moniker, The Wolverine. But those who knew him called him Logan.

Logan was strolling down the hall, black cigar clenched between his teeth. The house rule was no smoking inside where the children could see him but Logan had never paid any mind to Charles’ rules. After all, he had already lived 2 lifetimes of them, thanks to his impromptu trip to 1973 to change the future. 

Finally, Logan stopped at a small window overlooking the courtyard. It was a secluded spot, one where he wouldn’t be seen but could look out over the property, on guard from any intruders, even as he relaxed in the sun. 

The mutant unlocked the window and pushed it open before reaching into his pocket for his lighter. He paused as he noticed a flash of light, his senses on edge. He sniffed the air, testing for danger.

Below in the courtyard, a yellow taxi was pulling to a stop. 

Reaching up, Logan took the cigar out of his mouth as he watched three people get out of the vehicle. The first was a young man, stocky build wearing a large blue jacket. The man, little more than a boy was talking to an African American woman in black clothing who had stepped out of the back seat on the opposite side of the vehicle. The woman said something before turning and reaching back into the vehicle. 

Logan suppressed a growl as he saw what could only be a child, wrapped in a blanket, carefully lifted out of the vehicle and into the woman’s arms. The child wasn’t moving, either asleep or in a worse state and the woman held it with care but that still didn’t stop the stab of anger in Logan’s chest. He had seen this scene far too many times. 

Parents, frightened by their mutant offspring, packing them up to dump on Xavier’s door, the children left to wonder why they had been thrown out of a loving home, abandoned by seemingly perfect parents, all because of their mutation. 

If the African American woman was the mother, the third figure must be the father. Logan could see a tall, clearly male figure in red step out of the front seat, his back to the building. He must have been wearing a red hood, his face hidden from view. Probably some big-wig who thought his career would be ruined by a mutant child, looking to hide his ‘shameful secret’. Logan didn’t want to waste his time on something so disturbing.

A sudden movement caught the mutant’s attention. 

At the door, Piotr stood in his flesh form, arms crossed at his chest, waiting to greet the new arrivals, no doubt sent by Chuck to deal with them. Logan wasn’t surprised. Piotr had a remarkable tolerance for bullshit, far higher than most with the possible exception of Summers who was a Grade A Boy Scout. He would be able to talk to the parents, reassure them that they were doing the right thing, or as much as the right thing in their minds. Sure, Logan knew that it could be worse. Weapon X came to mind. But still, to abandon a child…

No longer feeling like a cigar, Logan pulled the window closed and turned away. Anyway, he had a self defence class to teach. 

As he disappeared from the window, Logan failed to see below in the court yard, the figure in red turn to look up at the window, white lenses of a mask narrowing. 

\--------

‘Logan, would you come to my office’

Logan had been half way to the Danger Room for his class when the summons came, Charles calling him to his office. Changing direction, Logan followed the well worn path to the older mutant’s office and pushed the door open without knocking. 

Xavier was in his usual place, seated in his wheelchair at his desk. On the opposite side, the other chairs were also taken. Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Hank McCoy and Ororo Munroe all sat in silence, waiting. Jean and Scott were holding hands, probably having a telepathic conversation and Hank was reading from a folder but Ororo turned and smiled at Logan as he took the last seat. Clearly whatever this conversation was about, it was for the ears of the senior ‘X-Men’.

“I am sorry to pull you all away from your classes” Charles began once Logan was seated and the group’s attention was on him. “But a matter has arisen which will require assistance from you all.”

The telepath turned to look at Logan.

“Later today, we will be entertaining a guest. His name is Doctor Nathanial Essex. He is a geneticist who has specialised in mutations. He has expressed an interest in investing in the school and offered his help in locating and educating our students. Logan, Ororo, I want you two to provide him with a tour of the school and answer any questions while he is on the grounds.”

“With all due respect, Professor, shouldn’t you leave that to Jean and me?” Scott asked as Logan was about to open his mouth and protest doing what was basically a glorified baby-sitting task. Normally, either one or both of them tended to do these tasks and Logan kept far away from them due to his short temper. Logan immediately changed his mind about the task.

“Why Slim, scared of him seeing what the school is really about?” Logan asked. He smirked as Scott shot him a dark look, eyes flashing under his glasses. 

“Stop it.” Jean ordered, placing her hand on Scott’s a shooting Logan a warning glance. She then gave her boyfriend a softer look, clearly holding him to a better standard then Logan. 

“Unfortunately, Jean, Scott, I have a more pressing matter for you.” Charles continued once the tension eased in the room. Reaching to a switch on his desk, he activated a small screen. On it, an image was shown. “What do any of you know of X-Force?”

The whole room went quiet, its occupants looking at the image. The picture of several people. They were heavily armed and looked more like a strike team than anything else. Finally Logan spoke.

“Isn’t that, that lunatic Deathbowl or something? The one Piotr is always talking about?” He asked, nodding towards a red and black figure on the screen. 

“Deadpool.” Charles corrected him. “They are a very secretive group but I have managed to find some information on them. Deadpool, or Wade Wilson, is a survivor of the Weapon X project like yourself Logan.” 

Involuntarily, Logan’s claws appeared at the mention of the program, an action which everyone in the room ignored. 

“From what I can tell” Xavier continued. “Mr Wilson escaped from the program with incredible healing abilities but his sanity didn’t survive. He has survived as a mercenary and it seems that the rest of this X-Force may have similar occupations.”

“They are Mutant Mercenaries. We need to stop them. Mutants are already persecuted enough. Having a mercenary group out in public could do serious damage to our cause. Or worse. What if they team up with the Brotherhood.” Storm stated from her seat. Charles glanced at her before shaking his head. 

“Magneto would certainly have a use for a group of mutants acting as mercenaries.” Hank added, still reading the file in his hands.

“Unfortunately, we currently have no proof of this group having committed any crimes. I suspect that they may have been involved in the murder of several orderlies at an orphanage as well as the breakout of several high level prisoners from the ‘Ice Box’ prison but as all the security cameras failed during both incidents and none of the children are willing to talk about what happened, I cannot prove anything at this point.”

“Wasn’t that orphanage discovered to be a front for a mutant conversion centre?” Scott asked, voice dropping dangerously. Logan nodded in agreement at the disgust in the other man’s voice. Several of the kids had been re-homed in Westchester after the orphanage was destroyed and the tales of what those kids had endured at the hands of those monsters were enough to make all the X-Men angry. 

“It was. However vigilantism does us no good.” Charles replied, sending calming thoughts into Scott’s mind. As leader of the X-Men, which was technically a group of vigilantes, Scott needed to maintain a calm front at all times to show that they were doing the right thing. 

“So why bring them up. If we can’t prove they have done anything, we can’t exactly stop them from living their lives. Unless you believe Magneto is planning to recruit them?” Jean asked. 

Xavier reached up and changed the picture on the screen, zooming in on one of the figures. It was a middle aged male, stocky build with a military style haircut and visible scars on his face. He was wearing a long sleeved jacket but that did little to hide just how strong he was. 

“This is one of the X-Force members. He goes by the code name Cable. From what I can discover, he is an Omega Level Telepath with similarly strong Telekinetic abilities. I also suspect he has latent Time Travelling abilities and possible Superhuman strength.”

Logan couldn’t help the impressed whistle. He only knew of one Omega Level mutant and that was Jean. The fact that this guy had her abilities and then some was something else.  
“So he’s strong.” Hank stated. Logan glanced over to the blue furred man who was placing the file on the desk.

“Yes, He also needs our help. Although they are not very forthcoming, it appears that this X-Force was involved in a fight last night with an unknown ground. During the fight, this Cable was hit by a blast intended for Deadpool and has apparently been de-aged. They have contacted Piotr who has offered for Cable to stay in the mansion for the time being.”

“And you allowed this?” Logan asked, glancing that Charles. He had thought the older man would know better than to allow a dangerous, unhinged group into his home, after the Stryker mess.

“Yes. Cable is, at this point, physically a child. And, I believe he has also been mentally deaged. I suspect he has no memories past the age in which he has been reverted to. Given what I also learnt, I feel it prudent to offer him a home until this can be sorted out.”

“What have you learnt Professor?” Storm asked softly.

“I learnt Cables real name.”

All the X-Men glanced at each other before, as a group, they lent forward, the tension in the room raising sharply. 

“I have learnt that Cable was raised many years in the future in the middle of a war, as a child soldier. His real name is Nathan Christopher Summers. He is biologically a perfect mixture of the DNA of Scott Summers and Jean Grey.”

Charles looked over to where Jean and Scott sat in dumb silence. 

“He is your son.”

\-----

The X-Men strolled through the halls, heading towards the kitchen. In front, the Professors Wheelchair rolled at a leisurely pace as he explained what he knew about the newly revealed Summers. 

Behind him, Scott, ever the loyal son, silently walked. He appeared to be listening intently to everything the Professor was saying but behind his visor, Logan could almost see the thoughts rushing through his head as he tried to make sense of what had been revealed to him. 

It seemed that this Cable, although now physically a child, still had his mutations. That level of power in a child’s body was beyond frightening and Logan agreed, could not be left in the hands of an unknown group. Charles had already instructed Piotr to escort this X-Force to the teacher’s kitchen where they would be out of sight of the students until anything could be decided.

Jean was also silent, her head bowed, lost in her own thoughts as she walked beside Scott. Logan could see in the lines of her shoulders that she was tense. 

Logan and Ororo brought up the rear, Hank having to return to his lab to check on some experiment or another. 

For once, Logan had nothing to say. Generally, he enjoyed riling up Scott but he knew that this was an unprecedented situation and as much as Logan liked annoying the leader of the X-Men, he and Scott had worked hard to form a friendship both on and off the field (even if, to an outsider, it appeared less of a friendship and more thinly vailed attempts to murder each other) and Logan wasn’t going to push in this matter. 

Suddenly, the Professor stopped, raising his hand to his head. Jean gave a sudden gasp. Scott immediately grabbed her hand in his.

“Jean?” He asked as Ororo pushed past, placing a hand on Charles’ shoulder.

“Professor?” She asked. 

“I’m alright.” The Professor replied, lowering his hand as Jean gave Scott a small nod. “But it seems that young Cable has awoken and is not happy. And it appears he has found the knife block. I think we should hurry to the kitchen before his teammates get injured.”

All of them picked up the pace, intent on getting to the kitchen. As they drew closer, Logan’s advanced hearing could pick up voices. 

“How did he get those knives?” A female voice asked. 

“I dunno. You’re lucky. You tell me.” A male voice replied. 

“That’s not how it works, Asshole.” The female replied. 

“You should not be using such language around a child.” A deeper voice with a Russian accent said. “Talk calmly and all will be well.”

“You wanna try it? Be our guest Metal Nuts!” Another male voice replied. This one was younger, with an accent Logan recognised as from New Zealand.

“Cable. I know all seems strange but if you put the knife down…” There was a loud, sharp sound of metal hitting metal. 

The first male voice returned, laughing. 

“Holy shit! Did you see that aim! Baby Priscilla is a bad ass!”

“You are not helping Wade!” The Russian voice growled.

The first male continued as if lost in his own train of thought. 

“Oh look. He found the Cream Cheese Spreader. How cute, taking after his Uncle Deadpool. Come here you little monster, I have to hug you.”

“WADE!”

“He just got that from the other side of the room without moving! It fucking floated!” New Zealand stated. 

“Please tell me you didn’t bring any of your guns.” The female stated. 

“Why? You think I should pull a gun on a child?! What the fuck Domino!?”

“You’ve done it before.” New Zealand replied. 

“Shut it Firefist! I do not…Argh! In my leg! You little fucker! Right. I’m ending this!”

There was another metal sound.

“Put down the knives now Mini Agent K!”

“You brung swords into a school?” The Russian voice asked, sounding horrified. “Why?”

“Clearly you’ve never been to a public school! Ouch! Son of a bitch!” The male shouted. 

“Shit! He’s got the Cheese Spreader again!”

The door to the kitchen opened.

In a matter of seconds, several things happened. In the corner, a young boy was standing, his back pressed against a wall. The rest of the rooms occupants were standing on the opposite side of the room. Piotr and a male in a red and black suit standing between the boy and the rest. The red and black moron had two swords in his hands and Piotr was in his protective metal skin. As the door opened, the boy turned and, clearly surprised, threw a small, bloodied knife towards the door. The group of people inside the room turning to watch it, frozen in their tracks. Logan drew his claws, already knowing that he wouldn’t be able to stop it even as he felt the others move into attack position.

The knife sailed through the air, flying towards its target before freezing, the very tip of knife resting against the Professor’s forehead. 

The room fell quiet for a few seconds before Logan finally released the breath he was holding. 

“Nice catch Red.” He muttered towards Jean, recognising the telekinetic hold on the weapon. 

“That wasn’t me.” Jean replied, still frozen with her hands partly raised as if to block the weapon. 

“No.” Charles stated. “I believe it was our young friend here.” His eyes fixed on the young boy who was staring at him. “It’s ok Nathan. We are not going to harm you.”

The boy looked at the group, clearly searching for any signs of danger, even as he pressed himself further against the wall. Logan took the opportunity to study the kid. He was maybe 6 years old, untamed blond hair with white bangs which reminded Logan of Rogues hairstyle. Blue eyes looked out from under the bangs and Logan could see, several noticeable scars around the boy’s right eye. But what had Logan freeze in horror was the kids left arm. It was metal. 

The boy continued to stare at the group, mixed emotions crossing his face when his eyes fell on Scott and Jean, as if the kid recognised them. 

After a few tense seconds, the kid raised his metal arm. The knife suddenly flew backwards, away from the group, the kid catching it expertly in a hand that was all metal.

“Scott. Jean. I think you should meet Nathan.” The Professor said softly, eyes still on the armed child. Logan could feel the calm Charles was sending into the room as his own claws retracted. Inside the kitchen, the group of people relaxed slightly, the red moron lowering the swords.

Logan could almost feel the telepathic conversation between the couple before Scott slowly stepped out from behind the Professor’s chair, hands open to show the kid he was unarmed and not a danger as he slowly moved forward. Jean was behind him and Logan could tell, she was on edge, ready to block if the boy decided to attack again. This was a familiar motion for all the X-Men when dealing with frightened young mutants but Logan suspected, this was also a completely alien experience for the leader of the X-Men. 

“Hello Nathan.” Scott said in a calm voice. “Do you know who I am?”

Slowly, the boy nodded, relaxing slightly but still keeping a firm grip on the knife. 

Scott smiled and lowered himself to his knees, allowing himself to be closer to eye level with the boy, while still being at a distance comfortable to the child. The boy looked into Scott’s glasses for a moment and Logan saw his left eye flash a golden light.

“Nathan. I’m your dad.” Scott said. 

“Alright…. What. The. Fuck!”


	2. Chapter 2

Over all, it had been a fucking weird 12 hours for X-Force. First, these Mother-fuckers calling themselves the Marauders had decided to mess with Wade’s family (Not that Wade didn’t fully believe his family could kick their asses. X-Force for the win!)

But then that mangy asshole Sabretooth (Yes, Wade remembered that dick from Weapon X. He still didn’t smell any better years later) had pulled out some weird blasty gun thing and Cable, the over-protective, racist bastard (ok, maybe not racist but Wade loved winding the Winter Soldier upgrade up whenever he could) decided to step in front of the blast Sabretooth aimed at Wade and next thing he knew, Wade had a tiny, white haired, metal armed kid, unconscious in his arms. 

The Marauders had left after that (and wasn’t that suspicious, the moment Priscilla, who was probably their heaviest hitter, was out for the count, those wannabe supervillains disappeared like their pants were on fire)

Wade had excellent common sense skills (well, sometimes anyway) and that smelled to him like bullshit. X-Force were distracted, one of their own down and the bad guys turn and run? Something wasn’t right here. 

Of course, there was the other issue. As much as Wade loved kids (and had been planning to be a dad at some point) he wasn’t sure if he was ready to jump in and take care of a mini-trigger happy soldier while trying to track those cowards down and figure out their game. 

Once the team had re-grouped in the back room of Weasels bar, they had tried to figure out what to do. Domino had immediately shot down Wade’s plan to leave Cable in Al’s apartment with a loaded gun while they went after the Marauders and beat them into fixing their resident Time Traveler before they had finally decided to contact the only family member who had any experience with kids. 

It only took 3 calls to Colossus (Twice where Wade had prank called him and finally gotten his number blocked and once where Domino had finally given up and called) before they were able to explain the situation and organise for the metal man to meet them at the school to figure out what to do. Domino had then bundled Wade, Russell and a still sleeping Cable into Dopinder’s taxi for the trip to the school where they were met at the door by Colossus. 

Colossus, the gentle hearted dummy, had shown them into the kitchen to talk which in hindsight, was probably a bad idea. Way too many sharp objects and fire in there. Wade should have known that Cable, soldier to his core, would fake being asleep until he could get his hands on a weapon. The fact that the little fella didn’t recognise his team was annoying, as was the cheese spreader Wade had to pull out of his thigh when the little shit had thrown it expertly at the Merc (Who the hell sharpened their Cream Cheese Spreader who wasn’t a paranoid bastard like Wade?) when he had tried to talk Cable down.

Although impressed that Cable took after him so much, Wade had admittedly lost his cool when he realised that the kid had managed to get his spreader back and was not going to put it down and let Wade hug him (and god did Wade want to hug him. Surprisingly, Cable made an adorably deadly kid) and had drawn Bea and Arthur (another, in hind sight, not a good idea moment when a kid with telekinesis was pulling weapons out of the air) before the kid was throwing the knife at Patrick Stewart's wheelchair bound twin. 

Wade had admitted, his heart had sunk when the weapon had been thrown before something had stopped it in its tracks, the damn knife still dripping with Wade’s own blood.

His heart had risen again when Xavier hadn’t been skewered by a cheese spreader and instead returned to Cables hand. It had then gone through an Olympic level gymnastics routine when the stuffy X-Men leader had approached Cable and introduced himself as Cable’s dad (I mean, what the hell? No way could Cable be related to the least liked member of the X-Men. A badass like Cable with his epic snark side and surprisingly decent sense of humor, even if it was initially hidden behind a weird kid killing plot line, could not be related to that laser eyed asshole, time travel be damned!) 

And then Cable had dropped the knife. And Wade had to epically stumble over to Wolverine who had entered the room behind James McAvoy’s older self and pretend to swoon at that revelation that Cable was related to Summers (annoyingly, the bastard had ignored Wade, letting him fall to the ground, forcing Wade to get up and drape himself over the mutant in shock)

“Alright….. What. The. Fuck.” He said. 

\-----

In the dim lab, a figure sat before a large screen, the computer light doing nothing to colour the figures pale skin, a pointed chin resting on a white hand.

On the screen, footage was on loop of several figures in white fighting against a figure in black and red and another in green with white hair. The white figures were being gunned down, annihilated but the two intruders. Next to the footage, were several holograms showing 3 DNA sequences. One was labelled SUMMERSS. The second GREYJ. The third was unlabelled. 

Beside the screen, a metal table stood, with four thick leather straps bolted into the steel where a persons wrists and ankles would rest. 

Footsteps drew near, the figure ignoring it until there was a loud metal bang.

Finally, the figure turned to look at the feral mutant standing at the table, the blaster on the metal surface where he had dropped it. 

“Well?” The figure asked.

“It’s done. Just as you predicted. He stepped in front of the beam.” The feral replied in a low, gruff voice. 

The figure smiles and looked back at the screen, the footage freezing briefly on the image of the white haired figure. Silently, the feral turned and left the room. He had done his task and wasn’t needed anymore.

“Soon Nathan. You will be home with me.” Mr Sinister smiled at the screen, eyes falling on the unlabelled DNA chain. “Then we shall see if you are as perfect as your DNA suggests.”

\-----

Scott had dealt with many frightened young mutants in various mental states during his long career as a teacher at Xaviers School. From waking up almost catatonic kids enough to get them to eat and survive, to talking down human time bombs on the point of exploding. 

Hell, he could still remember being in the same state on his own arrival in the school many years before after his rescue from the hands of Jack Winters, as a skinny, abused teen too terrified to even open his eyes, let alone trust the man who would later become the closest thing to a father to him. 

But there was something different about Nathan. 

Apart from being the youngest mutant Scott had ever dealt with (Scott estimated that he was no more than 6 years old, far younger than the normal students of Xaviers, whose mutations all manifested around puberty) the boy was unnerving to look at. Scott could see his own jaw line, inherited from his own father and a trait of the Summers men, in the boy. He could see Jean’s nose in this little boy. The boy’s hair was the same shade as Alex’s (except for the white bangs) The boys eyes were a shade of blue that Scott remembered as his own before his mutation made it impossible to see his eyes. And the boys mutation….Even now, Scott could feel a gentle probing in the back of his head, so like Jeans and yet different. 

Scott had felt many different telepaths in his head. From the familiar feeling of Jean through their mental connection or the equally familiar presence of the Professor, to less welcome presence like Emma Frost, Scott was well versed in identifying a presence and protecting himself against hostile forces. 

The feeling in his mind was not hostile. In fact, it was very well trained, not pushing or breaking, waiting to be invited inside. 

It could only be Nathan, the young boy looking for any hints of danger, his blue eyes scanning Scott’s face for any signs of trouble. Scott opened up his mind, wanting the boy to realise he was safe and trusting that he wouldn’t go where he was not welcome.

Despite the Professors fears, it was clear that Nathan had remarkable control over his mutation, maybe an automatic reflex gained from his adult years or just a natural born control. 

Scott felt himself become caught up in the feeling of this boy, of his SON, inside his head. He didn’t notice as Jean lowered herself to sit beside him and reach out her hand towards Nathan. He didn’t notice as the Professor spoke to the X-Force team, trying to reassure them of their teammate’s welfare. He didn’t notice as Logan pushed the red and black manic off, leading to Deadpool hitting the floor with an indigent yelp. He didn’t notice as Nathan took Jeans hand, his left eye flashing as their minds connected, causing Jean to gasp even as the boy’s metal fingers gripped onto the woman’s hand. 

Suddenly Scott felt images flash through his mind, images of a distant, future place. In those images, he saw himself and Jean, looking more worn and haggard but it was them. They had a little boy with them. A little boy would could only be Nathan. He saw flashes of them hiding and fighting, of a virus ravaging Nathan’s body, growing metal from flesh. 

Startled, Scott realised what this was. This was Nathan’s memories of them. This was this boy showing them that he trusted them. 

Scott finally came to himself with the boy in his arms, Nathan’s face pressed against his chest. Jean was at his side, her own arms wrapped around both Scott and Nathan. 

“Redd? Slym?” The boy asked, Scott finally hearing his son’s voice for the first time. Scott already knew the boy was addressing them, that to him, this was their names. 

“It’s ok Nathan.” Scott found himself whispering into the boy’s hair. “It’s ok.”

\------

Sitting back in his wheel chair, Charles Xavier watched as Scott and Jean embraced the boy, feeling warm inside. It was rare that he could see families joyfully re-united and that it was Scott and Jean, his first pupils, the people Charles thought of as his own children, living this, was a heady experience. 

Ororo had stepped up, speaking to the X-Force team and explaining to the woman (Domino) and the Teenager (Firefist) that they would do everything they could to protect Nathan while the X-Force team tracked down whoever had done this to their teammate. Piotr already offering his assistance to the team to help them locate whoever it was who had caused this. Logan had his hands full with Deadpool, who seemed to be all over the place, trying to engage Logan in conversation that seemed to switch track multiple times, irritating Logan to no end even as the Red and Black clad mercenary continued on with whatever he was saying.

Finally, Jean let go of her grip on Scott, raising to her feet. After a few moments, Scott followed her example, picking Nathan up as he rose to his feet. 

Charles could see that the boy was mentally exhausted from the stress of the situation, almost falling asleep, his head resting on Scott’s chest. 

“I’ll go and put him to bed.” Charles heard Scott mutter to Jean as the female telepath reached up and ran her hand along Nathans back.

“Take him to see Hank first.” Jean replied in an equally low voice. 

“Of course.” Scott replied. 

Jean nodded and gave him a small smile before dropping her hand. Scott turned to the door. 

“Wait! You are just going to take my Cable?” A voice asked. 

Charles turned to look at Deadpool who was de-tangling himself from Logan’s annoyed grip to run to the door. 

“Mr Wilson, you must understand that you cannot keep him safe with your current plan of action. Leave him here with us.” Charles butted in before Scott could tell the mercenary to go to hell. “He will be protected here.”

In his arms, Nathan had woken up a little and wriggled around to look at Deadpool. 

“But I’m an X-Man!” Deadpool whined.

“Only a Trainee.” Piotr added, causing Deadpool to turn around and point in warning at him. 

Suddenly, Nathan lent out of Scott’s arms, holding his own arms out to Deadpool.

Deadpool turned and looked at Nathan for a moment before pointing to his own chest, somehow expressing a question behind the mask before slowly stepping forward to take Nathan from Scott’s reluctant grip, giving an exaggerated groan as he took the weight of the 6 year old. 

“Alright Nate Baby.” The Merc said. “Fuck it’s weird thinking you have another name. But you do make a damn cute kid.” Carefully, he shifted so that one of his arms were free, Nathan’s own arms wrapped around his neck. 

“Anyway, you may not remember me right now but I know my bad tempered asshole friend Cable is still in there somewhere. But until you grow into him, I just want to you promise me to give your parents hell. Ok?”

Behind him, Scott cleared his throat, reminding Deadpool that he was still in the room but Deadpool seemed to ignore him. 

“I know you can do it. And also…” Using his free hand, Deadpool reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out something silver. “You might need this. A lot of seedy old white guys in these portraits here and I’m not 100 percent convinced that they aren’t going to come alive and come looking for some cute little kid to molest. This will protect you until I can come and castrate any bad guys.”

He handed the silver object to the child who took it, looking confused. 

“Is that a Rape Whistle?” Scott asked, shocked. 

“Gotta protect them until they can wheeled a gun for themselves. Or call Uncle Deadpool to do it for them, not that I think Cable can’t protect himself but you never know.” Deadpool said cheerfully as he handed the boy back. 

Scott took the kid in his arms again and gave the Merc a look before leaving the room. Charles turned to face the Mercenary who was looking almost wistfully after the retreating pair. 

“Mr Wilson, I promise that we will protect young Nathan.” Charles replied. 

“Can it Jean-Luc Picard.” Deadpool replied. “I have read your comics and seen your movies. I know how these plots go.” The Merc turned away. “And I can guess what is coming next.” He added to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't certain which back story I was going to go for with Scott Summers. In the end, I have picked the comic version but I may hint at the Original Movies version as shown in Wolverine Origins (where he was kidnapped by Sabretooth for the Weapon X project and was one of the kids rescued by Logan)
> 
> I am also torn between making this a Cable/Deadpool pairing or not (but not underaged because DP don't work that way) I love them as a pairing and well, its basically canon in the comics (After CW, they even refer to themselves as Divorced and I find that amazing) and fairly sure Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin are planning to bring it to the big screen if their interviews are anything to go by.


	3. Chapter 3

It felt like hours before the X-Men had successfully herded the X-Force team out the door of the mansion (although Deadpool had put up a protest about leaving Cable behind before screaming ‘Hi Yukio!’ as the taxi had driven down the drive) before Jean finally managed excuse herself from the room, very aware of Logan and Ororo watching her and the ever present connection between herself and the Professor. 

Making her way towards the wing of the building where the teachers lived and the series of rooms she shared with Scott, she found herself thinking about the child, their child. 

And the disturbing visions they had been shown.

Although she had told Scott to take Nathan to see Hank, she already knew what the results would be. Nathan was theirs. There was no other option. All she needed to do was look to see that he was Scott’s child and his mind, his powers….they was all hers. 

He was also exceptionally powerful. And yet, Jean could tell that there was something not right. Although Nathan’s telepathy was in full swing and enough to rival Jeans own, his telekinesis was muted. And more frighteningly, most of his powers were directed inwards on himself. 

Jean had seen young mutants direct their powers in on themselves as a form of self-harm. She had done it once or twice, when the self-loathing had gotten too much and she had wanted to hurt herself. It was frightening to see it happening to someone so young, let alone a child who was, as all evidence suggested, her son. 

Jean guessed it had to be a conscious thing that he was doing to himself. The sheer power of the child and his level of control was too much for the boy not to be aware of what he was doing. 

Jean was terrified that he was doing it to hurt himself. But she found she was even more afraid if he was doing it to mute the pain. 

Jean had seen the metal arm, the scars on Nathans face. She had seen the glimpse of something in the memories he had shared with them, of agonising metal racing though his veins, a horrifying familiar feeling after her few ventures into Logan’s memories. That a child knew that feeling…

It would take a lot of energy to mute such agony. 

Arriving at the door to her rooms, Jean was surprised to be met by Hank, the blue Doctor closing the door. 

“Jean.” He said, nodding to her in greeting.

“You’ve seen Nathan?” Jean asked, wanting to know what was going on. 

But the look on Hanks face told her it was bad. 

“Yes… Your child is remarkable. I…”Hank paused for a moment to think of how he was going to tell Jean the news. “Maybe you should talk to Scott. I have already explained it to him and I need to talk to the Professor.” He finished. 

Jean could feel the colour drain from her face. 

“Oh god, Hank! Please just tell me.” She begged. In their history, Hank had never lied to her and she refused to let him do so now, when her child was involved.

Hank paused for a moment before looking her in the eyes. 

“Jean. The metal in his body. His arm and his eye. It’s not a prosthetic. It’s a virus. And Organic Technology virus.” 

“What?” Jean asked, feeling shocked. 

“It’s an active virus, forcing its way through his body and turning everything into metal as it goes.”

“…How?” Jean wanted to ask how it had happened. She wanted to ask how Hank was going to treat it. She wanted to ask….she didn’t know what she wanted to ask. She just wanted Hank to tell her that everything was ok. 

“Jean, I am going to ask the Professor to have a look but I think Nathan is fighting it. Everything suggests that this virus should have killed him by now but he’s still alive and I would estimate less than 30% consumed by it. He’s fighting it.”

“His telekinesis.” Jean muttered to herself. She looked up at Hank. “Someone has taught him to direct his telekinesis internally, to hold off the virus. And his Telepathy is muting the pain he must be in.” It made sense now, why Nathan was directing his abilities inwards. He wasn’t hurting himself. He was saving himself.

“That would make sense. Maybe you could look into it Jean.”

“Of course Hank.” Jean gave him a small smile before stepping around the doctor and making her way into the room. 

There was no one in the small living room so Jean kicked off her shoes and made her way to the bedroom. There she found Scott seated at a small desk in the corner of the room where he had a view of the whole room, several papers scattered across the wood, red pen in his hands. Scott's face was a picture of calm but Jean could see he was bottling his emotions, employing his skills as the leader of the X-Men to keep himself in check. On the bed, a small figure was covered in a blanket. 

Gently, she reached out to his mind, letting him know that she was there. 

“You spoke to Hank?” Scott asked, not looking up from the paper.

“Yes. How bad?” Jean asked. 

Scott sighed and lowered the pen. 

“I think you should have a look.” He said, raising from his seat. 

Walking over to the bed, Scott carefully pulled the covers away. Nathan was asleep on his side, the adult sized military green t-shirt he had been wearing, gone into the hamper to be washed. Jean mentally reminded herself to go to town for some appropriate sized clothes for the boy as soon as she could. Until then, it looked like Hank or Scott had raided the student’s emergency wardrobe for some of the spare clothes they kept for any new students, as Jean could see a t-shirt and a pair of shorts folded neatly on the edge of the bed. 

Once the blankets were removed, Jean could see what had horrified Scott and Hank. His left arm wasn’t the only part of Nathan covered in the smooth metal. All his left side was covered, from his hip up to his neck. It looked to Jean like the boy had been caught in some sort of explosion, his arm torn off by a great force and expert doctors had surgically grafted a metal prosthetic on after. And yet, with all Jean’s medical training, she could not see any evidence of surgery, the metal melting into the skin seamlessly, with no scarring. 

“Oh god.” Jean muttered, reaching out to run her hand gently over Nathans arm. It was warm, like normal skin should be, suggesting some form of blood circulation and the way she had seen Nathan grip the knife suggested that he had full function over the metal, as if it were an organic limb. It was like Piotr’s metal skin and yet, it was so horribly different. 

“How could this happen to a child?” She asked herself. 

“It may not have happened to him as a child. It could have been when he was an adult and when he was de-aged, it didn’t manage to eject the metal from his body.” Scott suggested. Jean shook her head, remembering the feelings Nathan had projected into her mind. 

“No. There is something more to this Scott. Something either Nathan doesn’t know about or he is hiding from us. Something happened to him as a child. ” 

Jean felt the bed shift slightly as Scott sat on the edge next to her. He reached out and took her free hand in his. 

“We will figure this out.” He promised. 

\------

“This is very concerning.” Xavier was saying to Hank as Jean and Scott arrived at his closed door, the older telepath looking at the information presented to him. “The way this virus works is like nothing I have seen before. If this were weaponised, it could cause mass casualties.”

He paused for a moment before turning to the door. 

“Scott, Jean, please come in.”

The two teachers entered the room at the invitation. 

“Nathan is currently asleep.” Scott stated as the two stood before the Professors desk. 

“Good.” Xavier nodded. “I will admit, I am very unsure of this situation. It is clear that Mr Wilson did not want to disclose how this has happened to his teammate but Ororo was able to talk in private with Miss Domino. Apparently, last night they were attacked by three mutants calling itself The Marauders. These Marauders appear to be a team of Mutants with nefarious plans. One of their members is our old foe Sabretooth.”

“I thought he was dead.” Jean stated, remembering their last encounter with the feral mutant in New York. Beside her, Scott tensed at the mention of the mutant. He had a long and dark history with the other Mutant, going back much further then the New York Incident. 

“It appears he has a healing factor similar to Logan’s.” Xavier replied. “Somehow, during this confrontation, Sabretooth managed to shoot some sort of weapon at Deadpool and Cable got in between them. That weapon was the cause of his de-aging while still keeping his mutation at its full ability.”

“So it was Deadpool who was the target?” Scott asked. 

“It appears so.” Xavier replied. 

“But why target him? What is the point of attacking X-Force with a weapon that doesn’t affect the victim’s mutation?” Jean chimed in. 

“What I am more worried about is, how did Sabretooth get access to such a weapon?” Xavier stated. “This is incredibly advanced technology, very similar to the time travel technology our young friend Nathan used to travel back in time when he was an adult. I do not see someone like Sabretooth being able to gain access to this sort of technology on his own.”

“You think this group has a leader? Or some sort of sponsor providing them with such advanced weapons?”

“I do not know.” Xavier sighed. 

There was a knock at the door before it opened, Ororo entering with a tall man in a black fitted suit. He was pale with slicked dark hair and a neat beard. 

Scanning the door, Jean looked for Logan, surprised to find him missing. Logan may be gruff but he wasn’t the sort to ignore an order. Briefly, Jean wondered where he was before she turned her attention back to the man.

“Ah. Doctor Essex.” Professor Xavier said in greeting as the man walked towards his desk. “Welcome to the school.”

The man gave him a friendly nod. 

“Professor Xavier. It is an honor to finally meet you. I apolgise, I did not mean to intrude on your meeting.”

“No apologies needed Doctor. Please, let me introduce you to my colleagues. This is Doctor Hank McCoy, Scott Summers and Jean Grey.” Xavier replied with a smile as the man released his hand and turned to look at the rest of the rooms occupants. 

Doctor Essex turned to the three other people in the room, smiling at the three and held out his hand, shaking Hanks blue furred hand first, without any hesitation before pressing a kiss to the back of Jeans hand. Lastly, he gripped Scott’s hand, shaking vigorously as he stared straight at the red lenses of Scott’s glasses. 

The handshake seemed to go on for just a few seconds longer then it needed before the Doctor finally released Scott’s hand and turned to the Professor. As he released Scott, Jean saw Scott winch, raising his now freed hand to his temple. 

‘Scott?’ She asked mentally, not wanting to draw attention as the Professor and Dr Essex started talking.

‘Just a headache.’ Scott replied, shooting her a small smile but Jean could see the flash of pain on his face. 

‘Maybe you should have a rest.’ Jean replied, turning her back to him to appear as if she was watching the Professors discussion with the Doctor. ‘Nathan should be out for a few more hours but I can go check on him if you want to take a nap on the couch’

‘No. I have that Calc test to finish marking and a class to teach. I can’t expect Bobby to pick up my Spanish class. You know he can never remember the verbs and he has already covered my morning classes today.’ Scott replied.

‘Well, if you are sure. It’s lunchtime so you have a few minutes to rest before class. Please take something to help.’ Jean concluded. 

Scott nodded and soundlessly, strode over to the door and left the room, hopefully in search of a painkiller before he went to his class. Jean turned away to quietly ask Ororo where Logan was. As she turned, she missed seeing front of her, Dr Essex’ eyes flickered to the closing door, a brief smile crossing his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, this is a smaller filler chapter. I wanted to focus more on Scott and Jean and them finding out about the TO virus since Cable can't exactly tell them about it right now. 
> 
> Next chapter, I promise will be back to X-Force and what they are doing, as well as the first look into a 6 year old Nathan Summers (I was initially going to post Nate's part in this chapter but it got too long and I didn't want to cut it in half)


	4. Chapter 4

Slowly, Nathan opened his eyes, blinking in the sun light. He was lying in what had to be the softest bed he had ever slept in, so different from the thin mattress he remembered.  
Frowning, the 6 year old tried to remember what had happened to get him here. He remembered running through the Askani Camp with the other children from the clan before making his way back to the Dayspring shack at the edge of the town.

He remembered taking an evening meal with Redd and Slym before the after dinner lessons began, hand to hand combat with Slym followed by meditation with Redd. He remembered Redd putting him to bed and both of them wishing him a good night and then…

He remembered waking up in the arms of that unknown woman, in a room he had never seen before. 

Remembering his training with Slym, Nate had immediately found the nearest weapon and put distance between himself and the strangers in the room, protecting himself from any possible attack. 

Nate had seen some incredible things in his short life. He had lived thought Apocalypse’s attack on the Clan Askani and had seen Slym shoot lasers from his eyes and Redd move objects with her mind and talk in his head. But he had never seen people like these ones. 

The large male who had approached him, skin turning to metal when the male had gotten too close and Nate had been forced to defend himself, and the other man in red with the swords who had shouted nonsense at him.

Nate remembered wanting his knife back, only to find it flying into his hands. He remembered feeling people approach the room, even before he could see them, so like when Redd reached into his mind to talk to him. 

He remembered seeing another group of people enter the room and being forced to protect himself again with Slyms training. And then he saw them. Slym and Redd standing behind the man in the chair. They had looked younger, cleaner but it was them.

Nate didn’t know how he managed to stop the knife in mid-air, the feeling as if he was holding it in his hand, even as he could see it at the other end of the room. He remembered wanting it back and then it was in his hand again. 

And then Redd and Slym had approached him. He could feel the hesitation in Redd’s mind as she stood behind Slym, letting him take the lead in approaching Nate. And he remembered Slym saying that he was his…dad? 

Nate had always been told that Redd and Slym were his carers, sent by Mother Askani to protect him as the prophesised ‘Askani’son’, the hope for their clan. He had always thought of them as guardians but never allowed himself to think of them as his actual parents. He didn’t have parents. The idea was foreign to him. 

And yet, Nate couldn’t help but believe them, once he had slipped into Slym’s open mind to see if he was telling the truth. Although he had only had minimal training with Redd with telepathic powers, he had found it surprisingly easy to do so, far easier then only a few days before when Redd had talked Slym into letting Nate practice his control with him. 

Nate could feel that something was not right. As happy as he was that Redd and Slym had found him and didn’t seem angry with him, Nate could tell that something was very wrong. Apart from the fact that he had gone to sleep in his home and woken up in a strange new world, Nate had the distinct feeling that a lot of time had passed. But he couldn’t remember what had happened. 

He also felt powerful in a way he had never felt before. So used to having Redd’s voice in the back of his head, muting the constant pain from the TO virus, it had taken Nate a while to realise that the voice was no longer there. And yet, the pain was still muted. And Nate realised, he himself was the one muting the pain. 

The realisation had caused a wave of exhaustion to roll over Nate, worse than any of his more intense training sessions with his guardians. Because of that, he didn’t protest when Slym had picked him up, despite being far too old to be carried around like a baby, although he had found himself waking up a little when the crazy red man had approached. For some reason, Nate had felt compelled to reach towards the red man who had seemed overjoyed at Nate’s attention, giving him a whistle and a surprisingly nice hug before giving him back to Slym who had then placed him in this luxurious bed to sleep. 

Now awake, Nate slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. A shirt and a pair of pants which should be roughly Nate’s size were on the bed. Probably Redd’s work. She would often leave clothes for him if his training with Slym went too long into the night or left him too tired to do it himself before going to sleep. 

Detangling himself from the soft blankets, Nate crawled over to the clothes and pulled them on before climbing off the bed, his bare feet padding across the soft floor. 

Reaching the door, Nate poked his head out into the larger room, looking for any signs of life. There was no one there. After a moment’s thought, Nate ducked back to the bed. On a small table next to the bed was the small silver whistle the red man had given him. Grabbing it, Nate slipped it into his pocket before heading back into the larger room. 

Quickly, Nate searched the larger room, locating a small blunt knife in the draw of a desk as well as an electrical device which seemed to be some sort of communicator. Seeing it, Nate raised his metal arm to grab it. He almost jumped in surprise as holographic screen appeared, showing the workings of the device before getting his head back into the game like Slym taught him to. After a minutes study, Nate was able to take the back off the device and move some of the wires around, repurposing it. He then lowered his arm, blinking as the hologram disappeared. 

Calm once again, Nate slipped both the device and the knife into the pockets of his pants before making his way to the opposite side of the room where another door was closed. Pushing it open, Nate slipped into a long corridor. There were windows lining one side of the hall. Standing on tiptoe, Nate was able to look out into a green garden below. It was neat, so unlike the forest he was so used to. Groups of teenagers were milling in the grounds, some running around, others sitting. No one was on edge, no one waiting for an attack. Everything was calm.

In the distance, Nate could hear voices. Pushing away from the window, he reached into his pocket to grip the knife, making his way towards the voices. 

As he drew near to a closed door, Nate could make out two males and a female talking. One of the males was speaking in a gruff, low voice, almost a growl and the other was a higher pitch, excitement evident. The female also sounded excited.

“So you weren’t kidding. Scott and Jean have a kid and he’s here?” The female voice asked. 

“Yep. Seems like Slim and Red actually managed to produce offspring in the future.” The lower voice grouched. 

“Well tough luck for you Logan. Guess this proves that Jean isn’t going to leave Cyclops and run away with you.” The younger male voice stated. 

The older voice growled. 

“Unless it wasn’t Jean you were planning to run away with. You gotta admit, Scott has a great ass.” The male added. 

There was a metal sound before the male gave a yelp of surprise. 

“Come on! It was a joke.” The male stated. 

“Stop it Bobby.” The female voice said. “So what’s the kid like?” 

There was a brief silence before the gruff voice answered.

“Something isn’t right about him.” The gruff voice said. “Someone has worked on that kid. And not in the nice way.”

“You think he was tortured?” The female gasped. 

“I know a lab rat when I see one.” The gruff voice replied. 

“Poor kid. I heard he’s really powerful for just a kid. You think he was another of Styker’s victims?” The younger male asked. 

“Nah. According to Chuck, he’s from the future and unless some of Styker’s minions are still out there, that whole shit storm should be over.”

“So what do you think happened?” The female asked. 

“Dunno. Don’t think the kid even knows.”

“It must be terrifying, waking up suddenly in the past with no one you know around you.” The female said. “He must be so scared.”

“He seems to know Red and Slim alright. Besides, he threw a knife with extreme accuracy. He can take care of himself.” 

“He’s six, isn’t he?” The young male asked. 

“Like I said, can take care of himself.”

“Never become a parent Logan. You would suck at it.”

There was a pause before Nate heard a sudden inhale of breath.

“What is it?” The female voice asked. 

“Alright kid. Come on out.” The gruff voice stated, seeming to ignore the female. 

It took Nate a second to realise the voice was addressing him. The gruff voice knew he was close by. For a second, Nate considered retreating back to the room but decided against it. The voices hadn’t sounded hostile and Nate was armed. He could protect himself if needed. 

Straightening his shoulders, Nate reached up and pushed open the door, stepping into the room to see the three people standing there. 

The gruff voice Nate recognised as the male who had been standing with Redd and Slym when Nate had first met them. He was standing with two younger people. A man with dark blond hair and a woman with dark hair and white bangs. Both of them were smiling at Nate. 

“Well hi there Sugar.” The woman said, taking a step forward towards Nate. Suddenly the gruff man’s arm shot out, blocking the woman. 

“Hang on.” He said to her before turning to look Nate up and down. “Ok Bub. Turn those pockets out.” He ordered. 

“Logan!” The woman hissed but the man held her firm.

“Come on!” The younger man said. “Don’t harass the kid.” But the gruff man ignored him, staring at Nate. After a short stare down, Nate decided to relent. The gruff man was clearly a friend of Slym and Redd and Nate could feel that he wasn’t a danger. Slowly, Nate pulled his hand out of his pocket, showing the knife and the altered communication device to the group. 

The younger man gave a sharp laugh.

“Holy shit! What did he do to Cyke’s phone?” He asked aloud.

“Language Bobby!” The woman snapped before turning to smile at Nate. The gruff man had dropped his arm and she took the opportunity to approach Nate. Nate let her draw near, watching her carefully. She was wearing green gloves and Nate noticed, most of her skin was covered. 

She help up a gloved hand to Nate. 

“I’m Maria. You can call me Rogue. What’s your name Sweetheart?” 

Nate looked at the offered hand before looking back at her face. 

“Nathan.” He replied, avoiding touching the woman. Although the woman looked normal, all of Nate’s senses were telling him that it would be a bad idea to touch this woman. The woman dropped her hand but didn’t seem to take offence at Nate’s refusal. 

“Nathan. It’s very nice to meet you. I am a friend of your mum and dad. So is Bobby here.” She pointed to the younger man who snorted something which sounded like ‘only when I cover their classes’. The woman ignored him, pointing to the gruff man. “And you already met Logan.”

Nate nodded, sensing that this was the right thing to do. He didn’t have too much experience meeting new people who weren’t trying to hurt him. 

“We also have Kitty and Piotr. Kitty is prepping for her next class right now but I am sure she will love to meet you and…I don’t know where Piotr went.” The woman looked around, as if expecting the person in question to appear. 

“They already met.” The gruff man, Logan stated. 

Rogue turned to give him a questioning look. Logan gestured towards Nate. 

“Cable here threw a knife at him.” He stated before walking away from Bobby, whose mouth was open in shock. “Told you the kid could take care of himself.” Logan shot over his shoulder before leaving the room. 

\------

The warehouse was as grimy as Wade remembered as the X-Force team made their way inside, dank with that funny stale urine smell the Merc was so familiar with. But there was an added smell since the team’s last visit. A weird smell that Wade couldn’t quiet recognise. 

“Well here it is.” Wade said as he reached the middle of the giant room, spinning dramatically with his arms spread as Colossus walked up behind him. “This is where the magic happened.”

“This is where Cable got shot?” The Russian asked, looking around at the dusty walls. 

“Well, when you put it that way, it was less magical and more, wanna kill some fuckers but yes.” Wade replied as Domino followed behind the pair. Russell had been left behind with Dopinder to go back to Weasel and talk to him about the initial job. 

It had been a strange request which had come through the bar, seemingly the perfect job for X-Force. 

The card had said that handover was going to take place between two mobsters. Something to do with radioactive matter and plans to use it near a crowded population.  
Their employer had offered a shit tonne of money for the team to retrieve the matter and hand it over to them instead. Wade hadn’t really cared about the money. Radioactive matter generally meant cancer causing and Wade was more than willing to get that shit away from the population. He would have been willing to do the job, maybe not for free but totally for less than his normal fee. Cable, of course, with his crusade to save the world, was also for the job and Dom was bored and thought her luck would be useful. Firefist just wanted to blow shit up. 

It should have been an easy job. 

But in hindsight, easy jobs normally meant traps which was exactly what this one was. 

The X-Force had arrived, not finding two mobsters, but three minor X-Men villains. Of course, they had monologued for a bit, proclaiming the name of their team and their nefarious plan. Usual bad guy shtick which Wade ignored before the fighting started. 

At first, it looked like X-Force was going to wipe the floor with those assholes. And then the big guns had been drawn, literally. (Ok, they weren’t as big as Cables gun and certainly not as sexy but still. Big guns)

Wade had managed to dodge the first blast, as did the rest of their team, all of them returning fire with their own weapons (or in Russell’s case, his fists. And god did that sound dirty) 

Wade had been having fun, shouting puns and firing at the Marauders. He hadn’t expected Sabretooth, that sneaky bastard, to manage to get behind him until he had already fired. Wade had turned, bracing for the hit, when Cable had decided to play the hero and stepped in front of the blast, the force sending him shooting backwards, crashing into Wade and knocking them both into a wall. 

Wade had taken a few moments to come to his senses before he realised that Cable wasn’t already on his feet and kicking ass. It was then that he realised that he couldn’t see his metal armed friend. Climbing to his feet, Wade had drawn his gun and sent a few rounds towards Sabretooth as he stumbled towards the last place he had seen Doc Brown’s gym junkie alter ego. 

The first thing he had found was Cables drama cape lying forlornly on the ground (Seriously had Pricilla never seen the Incredibles? Edna Mode would have a field day with him) then, when he had pulled the cape aside, he had seen…well, you know the rest. An unconscious blond soldier who seemed to have lost about 70% of his height and at least 90% of his muscles.

Wade explained as much to Colossus as the T1000 wannabe walked around the room, looking at the damage caused by their little meeting the night before. The metal man seemed lost in thought as he pushed aside debris and searching though the mess. 

“Who owns this building?” He asked eventually, appearing to be lost in thought. 

Wade shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“No clue.” He said cheerfully.

“And who were these mobsters you were supposed to be stopping?”

“Mobster 1 and Mobster 2.”

“And who hired you?”

“Keyser Sozi.” Wade laughed.

Colossus shot him a look.

“You did no background checks?” Domino asked from the other side of the room where she was kicking though a pile of dust.

“Hey! I get the card, I do what the card says, I get paid. That’s how the system works.”

“No wonder you didn’t see it was a trap.” Domino muttered. She narrowed her eyes, staring at the ground. “Hang on…”

Wade and Colossus both turned as she knelt down, drawing out a knife. Expertly, she slid the blade between two seemingly identical bricks. 

With a grunt, she pushed her weight on the side of the knife, pulling up one of the bricks. Both Wade and Colossus made their way over to her as she reached into the hole left behind and pulled out an object covered in plastic wrap. 

“Very lucky you saw that.” Colossus stated as Domino shot a triumphant glance at Wade, who pulled a face under his mask. 

“Luck, shumck.” Wade muttered as Dom pulled the plastic wrap away, revealing an old book. She opened it, scanned a page and then closed it, an odd look on her face. 

“What is it?” Colossus asked as Wade sat down, cross legged next to Domino and made grabbing hand motions at the book. 

Domino stared at the book for a moment before looking at the two men. 

“It’s the attendance log from my orphanage.” She replied. 

“Now how in the fuck do you know that?” Wade asked. 

Domino rolled her eyes before opening the book to a random page. Without looking, she pointed at something. 

Wade squinted at the neat handwriting. 

It was a list of numbers and names. Some of them had the letter ‘M’ written before it and each name had a date. 

“Neena Thurman.” Wade read the name Domino indicated to. “And that is?”

“It’s me, you ass.” Domino replied. “That date is the day I arrived at the orphanage.”

Wade shrugged. 

“Could be a co-incidence.” He replied. Dom rolled her eyes and without looking, opened to another page. She showed it to both men, pointing at another name, 

“Russell Collins.” Wade read. “Ok. Maybe there is something here.”

There was a few minutes silence before a strange noise filled the space. 

“Hang on.” Wade stated, fishing thought his belt before pulling out his sparkly pink flip phone. He opened it. “Ghostbusters, Waddaya want?” He said. 

There was a moment’s pause before Wade closed the phone and stood up. 

“Weasel thinks he found something. Let’s go kiddies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised. Nate's point of view. This was interesting to write as I had to re-read several of the comics to try and get into Nate Summers head and look into the working of the Askani Clan. Seriously, Cable had a rough childhood, even with Redd and Slym there. I also wanted to show how much of a mind fuck it must be for Nate, having always had Redd (Jean) controlling the TO virus for him, to wake up and suddenly find that he is fully powered, completely in control of those powers and fighting the virus for himself. 
> 
> And yes, X-Force are out there kicking butt. I love them so I want to have fun with them.
> 
> So this is the last posted chapter I have where I have another chapter waiting. Updates may slow down from now on. (Also, I was off work due to injury but going back to work soon so that will also slow me down. Hopefully I can keep the passion)

**Author's Note:**

> Argh. Why am I posting this? I have way too many W.I.Ps on going to start another. 
> 
> Oh well. The characters are probably all out of character. I apologise for that but figured I might as well practice them while I am here.


End file.
